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Guns and Domestic Violence - A Lethal Combination

November 13, 2017Jane Hanson

Dear Friends-

Like all of you, we at Partners are deeply saddened by the recent mass shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, though we are not surprised that the shooter had a hsitory of domestic violence. Indeed, Everytown for Gun Safety's research shows that in the period 2009 - 2016, 54% of mass shootings in the United States involved domestic violence in some way. Sometimes the targets of the mass shooting were the shooter's domestic violence victims, their families and friends; other times the shooter targeted strangers but, like Devon Patrick Kelly, had a history fo domestic violence.

You probably now know that federal law prohibits the possession or purchase of a firearm by someone who is the subject of a restraining order or has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, but the law does not apply if the paties are dating but not living together. This so-called "girlfriend/boyfriend" loophole exposes many vicitms of domestic violence as well as the genreal public to the risk of being shot or threatened with a firearm. Please consider contacting your representatives in Congress and ask tehm to change the law to cover dating relationships. It's a public safety issue. Access to gusn by domestic abusers creates danger for all.